KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - A California-based company has become the first major web filter provider to drop a category that allowed schools in Missouri and elsewhere to block students' access to educational websites about gay, lesbian and transgender issues.
Lightspeed Systems is working to reclassify the sites on a category called "education lifestyles."
The category was accessible under a default setting. But it could be activated to block sites focused on what the company described as "alternate lifestyles," particularly those discussing LGBT issues.
The American Civil Liberties Union sent letters this spring to about 15 districts as part of a campaign aimed at stopping the filtering of LGBT content. The North Kansas City School District and three other customers of Lightspeed Systems were among those singled out.